mauricim

• Moreira-Soares, Maurício; Fossen, Erlend I. F.; Bilbao-Jayo, Aritz; Almeida, Aitor; Lopez-Perez, Laura & Alonso, Itziar [Show all 16 contributors for this article] (2026). Joint probability framework for the development and validation of a prognostic model for the conditional outcome of quality of life: a retrospective study in historical European cohorts of survivors of head and neck cancer. The Lancet Digital Health. 8(5). doi: 10.1016/j.landig.2025.100976. Full text in Research Archive
• Moreira-Soares, Maurício; Mossmann, Eduardo; Travasso, Rui D.M. & Bordin, Jose Rafael (2024). TrajPy: empowering feature engineering for trajectory analysis across domains. Bioinformatics Advances. 4(1). doi: 10.1093/bioadv/vbae026. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Motivation Trajectories, which are sequentially measured quantities that form a path, are an important presence in many different fields, from hadronic beams in physics to electrocardiograms in medicine. Trajectory analysis requires the quantification and classification of curves, either by using statistical descriptors or physics-based features. To date, no extensive and user-friendly package for trajectory analysis has been readily available, despite its importance and potential application across various domains. Results We have developed TrajPy, a free, open-source Python package that serves as a complementary tool for empowering trajectory analysis. This package features a user-friendly graphical user interface and offers a set of physical descriptors that aid in characterizing these complex structures. TrajPy has already been successfully applied to studies of mitochondrial motility in neuroblastoma cell lines and the analysis of in silico models for cell migration, in combination with image analysis. Availability and implementation The TrajPy package is developed in Python 3 and is released under the GNU GPL-3.0 license. It can easily be installed via PyPi, and the development source code is accessible at the repository: https://github.com/ocbe-uio/TrajPy/. The package release is also automatically archived with the DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3656044.

• Moreira-Soares, Maurício; Fossen, Erlend Ignacio Fleck; Taylor, Katherine; Singer, Susanne; Hurley, Katrina & Thomas, Steve [Show all 16 contributors for this article] (2024). Quality of life in head and neck cancer survivors: the Big Data for Quality of Life study. medRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2024.02.02.24302118. Full text in Research Archive
• Fossen, Erlend Ignacio Fleck; Moreira-Soares, Maurício; Leblanc, Marissa Erin; Frigessi, Arnoldo; Hovig, Eivind & Lopez-Perez, Laura [Show all 20 contributors for this article] (2024). External validation of prognostic and predictive gene signatures in head and neck cancer patients. medRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2024.09.24.24314278. Full text in Research Archive
• Moreira-Soares, Maurício; Fossen, Erlend Ignacio Fleck; Bilbao-Jayo, Aritz; Almeida, Aitor; Lopez-Perez, Laura & Alonso, Itziar [Show all 17 contributors for this article] (2024). Joint probability approach for prognostic prediction of conditional outcomes: application to quality of life in head and neck cancer survivors. medRxiv. Full text in Research Archive
• Melo, Soraia; Guerrero, Pilar; Moreira-Soares, Maurício; Bordin, José Rafael; Carneiro, Fátima & Carneiro, Patrícia [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2023). The ECM and tissue architecture are major determinants of early invasion mediated by E-cadherin dysfunction. Communications Biology. 6(1). doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-05482-x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract Germline mutations of E-cadherin cause Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer (HDGC), a highly invasive cancer syndrome characterised by the occurrence of diffuse-type gastric carcinoma and lobular breast cancer. In this disease, E-cadherin-defective cells are detected invading the adjacent stroma since very early stages. Although E-cadherin loss is well established as a triggering event, other determinants of the invasive process persist largely unknown. Herein, we develop an experimental strategy that comprises in vitro extrusion assays using E-cadherin mutants associated to HDGC, as well as mathematical models epitomising epithelial dynamics and its interaction with the extracellular matrix (ECM). In vitro, we verify that E-cadherin dysfunctional cells detach from the epithelial monolayer and extrude basally into the ECM. Through phase-field modelling we demonstrate that, aside from loss of cell-cell adhesion, increased ECM attachment further raises basal extrusion efficiency. Importantly, by combining phase-field and vertex model simulations, we show that the cylindrical structure of gastric glands strongly promotes the cell’s invasive ability. Moreover, we validate our findings using a dissipative particle dynamics simulation of epithelial extrusion. Overall, we provide the first evidence that cancer cell invasion is the outcome of defective cell-cell linkages, abnormal interplay with the ECM, and a favourable 3D tissue structure.

• Simões, Rui F.; Pino, Rute; Soares, Mauricio Moreira; Kovarova, Jaromira; Neuzil, Jiri & Travasso, Rui [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2021). Quantitative analysis of neuronal mitochondrial movement reveals patterns resulting from neurotoxicity of rotenone and 6-hydroxydopamine. The FASEB Journal. ISSN 0892-6638. 35(12). doi: 10.1096/fj.202100899R. Full text in Research Archive

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• Cavalieri, Stefano; Vener, Claudia; Leblanc, Marissa Erin; Lopez-Perez, Laura; Fico, Giuseppe & Resteghini, Carlo [Show all 23 contributors for this article] (2023). A multicenter randomized trial for quality of life evaluation by non-invasive intelligent tools during post-curative treatment follow-up for head and neck cancer: Clinical study protocol. Frontiers in Oncology. 13, p. 1–16. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1048593. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Patients surviving head and neck cancer (HNC) suffer from high physical, psychological, and socioeconomic burdens. Achieving cancer-free survival with an optimal quality of life (QoL) is the primary goal for HNC patient management. So, maintaining lifelong surveillance is critical. An ambitious goal would be to carry this out through the advanced analysis of environmental, emotional, and behavioral data unobtrusively collected from mobile devices. The aim of this clinical trial is to reduce, with non-invasive tools (i.e., patients’ mobile devices), the proportion of HNC survivors (i.e., having completed their curative treatment from 3 months to 10 years) experiencing a clinically relevant reduction in QoL during follow-up. The Big Data for Quality of Life (BD4QoL) study is an international, multicenter, randomized (2:1), open-label trial. The primary endpoint is a clinically relevant global health-related EORTC QLQ-C30 QoL deterioration (decrease ≥10 points) at any point during 24 months post-treatment follow-up. The target sample size is 420 patients. Patients will be randomized to be followed up using the BD4QoL platform or per standard clinical practice. The BD4QoL platform includes a set of services to allow patients monitoring and empowerment through two main tools: a mobile application installed on participants’ smartphones, that includes a chatbot for e-coaching, and the Point of Care dashboard, to let the investigators manage patients data. In both arms, participants will be asked to complete QoL questionnaires at study entry and once every 6 months, and will undergo post-treatment follow up as per clinical practice. Patients randomized to the intervention arm (n=280) will receive access to the BD4QoL platform, those in the control arm (n=140) will not. Eligibility criteria include completing curative treatments for non-metastatic HNC and the use of an Android-based smartphone. Patients undergoing active treatments or with synchronous cancers are excluded.

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